The accuracy of fuel dispenser measurements of fuel delivery may decrease over time. Since inaccuracies in fuel dispenser measurements are commonly designed to favor consumers, fuel dispenser measurements may be calibrated to increase the accuracy of measurements and reduce loss due to inaccurate measurements for a retail fueling facility (e.g., a gas station). For example, a traditional retail fueling facility may sell many tens of thousands of gallons per month, and high volume retail fueling facilities may sell over one-hundred-thousand gallons per month. Thus, even small increases in the accuracy of measured fuel delivery may result in large savings for a retail fueling facility.
In many instances, representatives of a state weights and measures agency periodically visit retail fueling facilities to calibrate the facility's fuel dispensers. Calibration typically involves manually dispensing fuel from a fuel dispenser into a metered container and comparing the amount dispensed into the container to the amount the fuel dispenser indicates has been dispensed. Since calibration requires manually dispensing fuel from each fuel dispenser being calibrated into an external container, calibration is not frequently performed. Additionally, due to the large number of retail fueling facilities governed by an agency, the visits, and thus calibration, are infrequent.
While governmental regulations permit some level of inaccuracies, failure to satisfy the regulations may result in fuel dispensers and/or the retail fueling facility being closed until appropriate corrections are made. For example, some governmental regulations may require that the fuel dispensers at any given gas station not be off by more than one ounce for every five gallons. Thus, calibration may, of course, reduce lost revenue due to inaccurate measurements, and may also reduce lost revenue due to failure to comply with governmental regulations (e.g., fines, lost revenue from temporary closure, etc.).